Chelsea’s New Affordable Housing Rules Passed 11 to 0. The Part That Mattered Passed 6 to 5
The minutes sat unpublished for twelve weeks. They show a 6-to-5 amendment that raised the developer buyout fee to $275,000 and added…
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Chelsea’s Own Forecast Shows an $18.6 Million Deficit by 2031. The Pages Were Scanned Sideways
Balanced in 2026 and 2027, then $7.2 million short, then $12.4 million, $15.4 million, $18.6 million. We turned the pages upright and…
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A Main Broke on Shurtleff Street. Nearly Half of Chelsea’s Water Pipes Are the Kind That Do
One line from the city, three photos of a wet street, and no follow-up. What is under Shurtleff Street, and why it…
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Chelsea Bought a Building: Inside Chelsea 55, the City’s First Owned-and-Managed Affordable Housing
Six three-bedroom apartments, more than 300 applications, and a city that decided to stop waiting for developers. What Chelsea 55 tests, and…
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Chelsea Is Rewriting Its Charter and Its Master Plan at the Same Time. Here Is How to Weigh In
A nine-member committee is reviewing the 1994 charter article by article, the first master plan since 1970 is nearly done, and the…
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Could Chelsea Be Next? What Everett’s Cyberattack Means for City Hall on Broadway
A five-person IT department, dozens of software platforms, a shared 911 center coming in 2027 and a menu of free state help.…
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Meet Your Councillor: Calvin T. Brown, Who Keeps Winning by a Handful of Votes
Five votes in 2021, six in 2025, a hand recount both times. No seat in Chelsea is held by a thinner margin,…
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Meet Your Councillor: Manuel Teshe, Who Came From El Salvador at 13
He arrived from El Salvador at thirteen. He now spends his working days getting immigrant children legal status, in a city that…
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Meet Your Councillor: Giovanni Recupero, District 6 Since 2012
He has held District 6 since 2012, raised thirteen children, and runs unopposed. He also argued that affordable housing alone does not…
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Meet Your Councillor: Lisa Santagate, Journalist, Teacher, Food Pantry Founder
Forty years teaching and reporting across several countries, four degrees, a mediator's training. She called the housing proposal one-size-fits-all in April, and…
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